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A woman, referred to as Sophie to protect her identity, has shared the harrowing experience of being abducted and raped by a man who posed as a taxi driver in Glasgow. On 7 August 2022, Sophie believed she was getting into a legitimate taxi for a ride home in the Dennistoun area. After the driver had dropped off her friend, he diverted the journey, taking her instead to a barber shop where he worked. There, Sophie was assaulted by Barzan Nawshowani.
Sophie expressed that given the severity of the crime, she believed Nawshowani deserved a prison sentence of 15 to 16 years. This came in the wake of new Scottish sentencing guidelines introduced recently that increase jail time for serious sexual offences. Speaking about the case, Sophie said, “Sometimes you get that feeling of just lock him up and throw away the key… Despite the appeal, the charges were abduction and rape. I think those two together, I think it needed to be a lot longer, 15, 16 years.”
The incident began when Sophie’s friend flagged the fake taxi after a night out. Sophie explained that the driver took her friend home first, which seemed unusual since her friend lived further away, before continuing with Sophie towards Dennistoun. The car stopped a distance from her intended destination, triggering Sophie’s instinct that something was wrong. Though impaired by alcohol, she decided to stay calm and simply try to get home. The driver mentioned he worked at the nearby KS Turkish Barbers and proceeded to unlock and open the shop’s shutters. Fear quickly immobilised Sophie as the situation escalated rapidly, with the door being locked behind her and the shutters lowered. “Mainly in my head was ‘just do as you are told’. My immediate thought was that he might kill me,” she recalled.
Despite searching for an escape, Sophie found no way out as the attacker grew aggressive and violent. She described him as physically overpowering and older, stating, “There was not anything that anyone in that circumstance could do differently.” Nawshowani then raped her while she pleaded for him to stop, overwhelmed by terror. Once he left the shop, Sophie escaped onto the street and immediately contacted her friend before going home. She described feeling utterly helpless upon returning, unable to even lift herself off the floor and consumed by shame and fear of being blamed. Encouraged by her friend, Sophie reported the assault to the police, leading to Nawshowani’s arrest within days.
Concerned about the impact on her family, Sophie delayed telling her parents for about a week due to feelings of shame and worry about their reactions. When she finally confided in her mother, the response was quiet and emotional, culminating in her family offering support and reassurance. Sophie found this both comforting and overwhelming: “It was hard seeing my dad so upset and processing it all – it was one of the hardest things of the whole experience seeing them upset.” During the subsequent trial, Sophie gave evidence via video link, calling the experience “horrific.” She described experiencing panic attacks and intense scrutiny during cross-examination, especially when the defence suggested it was “just a night out gone wrong,” which provoked anger.
Initially, Sophie felt a sense of validation when Nawshowani was sentenced, confirming the seriousness of what had happened. However, she quickly felt the sentence was insufficient. Following a Crown appeal, the prison term was extended to eight years. Though acknowledging the increased sentence, Sophie expressed that this period still felt too short for her healing. She emphasized that the burden of shame belongs with the perpetrator, saying, “The shame shouldn’t be with me and the control shouldn’t be with him. The shame should be with him and the control with me.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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